King gives pep talk to NSA workers

Embattled National Security Agency employees received a pep talk Wednesday from an unusual source: a congressman.

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) spoke to about 300 NSA workers at headquarters, he told POLITICO, praising the efforts of an agency that has come under fire amid high-profile leaks from Edward Snowden.

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“They really feel that they’re under siege,” he said in an interview following his remarks. “Whether from Snowden, politicians, the media, daily stories, daily attacks, very few people are publicly supporting them.”

King, a hawkish Republican who is mulling a long-shot presidential bid, called the NSA a “heavily scrutinized” organization with little record of “abuse.” But it’s taking heat from people on both sides of the aisle, he said.

“You have what you would expect with civil libertarians on the left,” along with conservative libertarians, he said. “And then you also have many Republicans who are anti-Obama, who when they’re talking about the IRS and the [General Services Administration scandal] and the NSA, it’s just the same thing … it gets lumped in with the scandals of the IRS.”

After meeting with NSA Director Keith Alexander, he aimed to offer a “morale boost” to employees, said King, who serves on the House’s intelligence and homeland security committees and spoke to employees for about 45 minutes before taking questions. In the past, he has called on President Barack Obama to stand up for the NSA, and he reiterated that in the interview.

“To me it would be very symbolic [for Obama] to go out there,” he said. “At the very least I think he owes them a full defense of what they’ve been doing, and should make clear this isn’t some rogue agency, they aren’t off on their own. He’s benefited so much from the intelligence they’ve found.”

He added, “since I said the president should go out, I thought at least I should.”